


Cloth Monsters

by SureWhyNot9



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-26 23:29:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9928865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SureWhyNot9/pseuds/SureWhyNot9
Summary: On a trip to the dollar store to buy post-holiday discount candy, Swerve finds a pair of roughed up toys and decides they need good homes.[[PERMANENT HIATUS]]





	1. Happy Discount Candy Day, My Guys

Skids groaned into his pillow as Swerve pulled on his shoes, thoroughly awake from Swerve tripping over himself trying to get dressed in the dark and failing spectacularly to do so with any sort of stealth. It was almost 8:30 in the morning but their blackout curtains kept the room in deep darkness and since neither of them had classes until eleven it was pretty unfortunate that Swerve hadn’t been able to get out the door without making a racket. “Why are you going out _now?_ ”

Swerve rolled his eyes and threw back the pillow Skids beaned him with earlier, when he first woke him up. “Because if I go out _later_ all the leftover candy and stuff will be gone. Most places are supposed to cycle the shelves by the end of the day, I think, so I’ve gotta go early if I want to get anything good.”

“You didn’t even get up this early for your psych class last semester.”

“Yeah, because that was a boring as hell lecture class and _this_ is _half off chocolate._ ” He stood and grabbed his coat and picked up his wallet and ID card off his desk. “I’ll pick you up some sweet hearts while I’m there.”

“Chocolate.” Skids was very sleepy, a yawn cutting through his—still slightly annoyed—insistence. “Get me apology chocolate for waking me up this early and we’ll be even.”

“I was trying to be quiet!”

“You fell over your backpack.”

“No, I fell over _your_ backpack, which you forgot to move out of the middle of the room. Clearly this is your fault,” he teased. Skids groaned and buried his head between his pillow and the one Swerve had returned to him. Swerve grinned. “I’ll see what they have, maybe I’ll get you those fun heart-shaped marshmallow things you like.” Skids just waved him off and he laughed, stepping into the hallway and locking the door behind him.

There was practically no one out and about on campus. All the 8 AM classes has already started and it was too early for the 9 AM class rush. There were a few people heading to breakfast, but mostly it was just Swerve, tromping across campus to Main Street and then making the mile long walk to the dollar store. It was cold but pretty. Swerve thought about how much this is like walking to school back in Helex, only it was a shorter trek from his and Skids’ dorm room to the store than it was from his house to the bus stop that carried him to the only high school in the county. He blew puffs of breath in the air and pretended to be a dragon while he walked.

When he got to the store the checkout clerk waved and smiled at him and he smiled back, heading straight for the post-Valentines discount table off to the side at the front of the store. It was piled high with cardboard hearts full of chocolate, packs of valentines with cartoon characters on them, boxes of pink and red candies, and unsold stuffed bears holding hearts with romantic slogans printed on them. Everything was at least half off. They were sure to be even cheaper later, but they’d also be super picked over, so the early trip was well worth it. He looked through the pile and picked out what he wanted to get for his friends—including a “Doc McStuffins”-patterned assortment box for the 16 year old in his bio class who was either going to be hella offended by the insinuation that he was a child or find it hilarious—and a bag of assorted pink-foiled chocolate hearts for himself.

He carried the armload up to the checkout counter. The cashier giggled at the various novelty candies. “It’s a little late for Valentine’s Day gifts, isn’t it?”

“My friends expect _nothing_ , so they don’t get to complain that it’s late.” Swerve looked back over at the piled-up table while they scanned his items, looking for anything especially cool he might have missed. There was a spilled box of stuffed animals under the table and one in particular caught his eye. “One sec.” He left the counter and walked back over, crouching to reach under the table. He pulled out a blue and black plush of indeterminate species, worn and dirty and with a big tear with stuffing leaking out where one of its embroidered eyes was cut through. It looked a little like the cute, blobby mothman drawings he’d seen online. A big shape with wings, no discernible head, and little nubby claw feet. It was the only one like it in a sea of cheap pink and white teddy bears. He held it up so the cashier could see it. “What’s this thing?”

They squinted across the few yards between them and seemed to recognize the object. “Oh, we got a shipment of weird plushes like that. All different, too, I think there’s some kind of randomizer involved in the design? I don’t remember, but it says it on the display in the back if you want to take a look.” They jerked a thumb over their shoulder, back toward the rows of shelves Swerve had thus far avoided. “The rest aren’t on sale, that one’s only up front because its face is messed up.”

Swerve pointed toward the back, where the cashier indicated. “You don’t mind?”

They looked around at the otherwise deserted store. “I’ll try to hold off the mob. Just don’t take too long, okay?”

“You got it!” Swerve hurried off to the back of the store.

The display was a small cardboard tower next to shelves of off-brand plush toys and injection-molded plastic cars. There were an array of different body types, all that same two-shape cutout style with identifying features embroidered on, mostly at haphazard angles. There weren’t any other mothmen, but there was a purple shape with red eyes tipped over on the middle shelf. It had what were _supposed_ to be three points on its square head, the right one embroidered white to identify it as an... ear? Horn? Something. The middle point was purple, a continuation of the main fabric, and when Swerve picked up the toy he saw the third point was torn off right above the start of the white. Embroidered threads frayed around a hole with stuffing poking out. He looked around for the missing horn-ear-thing but couldn’t find it. After a few more seconds of searching and a quick check under the display itself, he headed back to the front counter with the purple thing in hand.

He set it on the counter next to the blue monthman. “This one’s torn up too.”

The cashier frowned. “Well shi—shoot.” They glanced at Swerve like they were checking to see if he caught the almost-curse. “This is the other one that kept falling off the shelf. We kept finding them on the floor together. I’m not sure how they got to be in such rough shape though, the display’s not that tall.”

“Maybe someone stepped on them?"

They shrugged and picked up each of them in turn, looking them over. “Well, they’ve still got their tags. You want them?”

Swerve considered the toys sitting on the conveyor belt for a few seconds. “Sure, why not.”

The cashier rang up the mothman and stuffed it in the bag with Swerve’s candy, but they paused before ringing up the purple horned thing. “This one’s full price.”

“But it’s not a full toy, it’s missing a piece.”

“Yeah but I’d need a manager to clear putting it in as a sale item. I’m the only one here right now, and I’m _not_ a manager.”

“Isn’t there always supposed to be a manager on site?” They shrugged again and put a finger to their lips like it was a secret that they were there alone. Swerve sighed dramatically. “Fine, I’ll take it anyway.”

They finished ringing him up and he paid for his stuff and started the walk home. He had two bags instead of the planned one because of the toys, but they barely weighed enough to notice. Skids was actually awake—though reluctantly so—when Swerve got back. Swerve threw a packet of sweet hearts at him to announce his return and missed by about a foot. “Happy cheap candy day, roomie!”

Skids picked up the box and rolled his eyes but opened it anyway. “This is the worst candy ever. It’s even worse than candy corn, why would even spend money it?”

“Says the guy who’s eating it.”

“I’m hoping the sugar rush means I can go without coffee this morning. Instant is gross and Starbucks is _expensive._ ”

“Maybe this’ll help then.” He tossed a larger box to him, this one filled with heart-shaped marshmallows.

Skids caught the box and lit up. “ _Sweet._ ”

“Yes I am, thank you for noticing.” Swerve gave him an exaggerated wink and proceeded to dump both dollar store bags onto his bed. He sorted their contents based on who he was going to see in class soonest, using one of the bags to keep together the treats for people he wouldn’t see until Friday—Rewind and Tailgate deserved some treats too. He tucked the Doc McStuffins heart into his backpack, ignoring Skids’ raised eyebrow.

“What are those?”

“Candy for friends.”

“No, _those._ ” He pointed at the stuffed animals teetering on the edge of Swerve’s bed. “They don’t look Valentine’s-y.”

Swerve rescued them from falling off the bed and placed the purple one on the pile with the tied-off plastic bag. He tucked the mothman under his arm while he rifled through his desk until he pulled out a small needle holder along with one spool of dark blue thread and another of white. “They’re not valentines. They were on clearance because they’re messed up, so I bought them.”

“They’re kinda ugly.”

“They’re cryptids, they don’t have to be _cute._ ”

Skids leaned forward, interested. “Really?"

Swerve shrugged. “I dunno. This one looks like mothman, though, so that’s what I’m going with.”

“Dang. I thought you found legit cryptozoology swag.”

“That’d be cool, but no.” He sat back down and picked up the purple one to wave at Skids. “I’m not sure what this one’s even supposed to be.” He threaded white through the needle and carefully poked the stuffing back into the horn hole before starting to sew it shut.

Skids shoved another marshmallow in his mouth and pulled on a shirt. “If they’re broken, why buy them?”

“They’re not _broken_ , just torn up a bit. Nothing I can’t fix. I’m sure I can find a good home for them.”

“If you fill our room with stuffed animals, I’m moving out.”

Swerve picked up his pillow and threw it at Skids, adding to the pile on his side of the room. Skids didn’t even have to move to dodge it. “I’m not collecting them or anything, it’s just _two_.” Satisfied with the repair job for the time being, he tied off the thread and snipped the tail end, setting the purple thing back on the bagged part of the pile, to take to movie night later that week. He picked up the mothman next and frowned when he looked it over. The torn-through embroidered eye was outright missing, leaving a big chunk from its weird not-face gone. It was going to need more than a quick patch job.

Skids watched him pull out his small collection of fabric scraps and try to match the color. Swerve eventually settled on a dark blue that was _almost_ the same and he was preparing to set about repairing it when Skids checked his phone. “Don’t you have class at eleven?”

Swerve looked up at him and then checked his watch. “Shit.”

“The bio class, right? The one where the asshole professor locks the door if you’re more than five minutes late?”

“ _Shit._ ” Swerve stuffed the patch kit into his backpack and grabbed his textbook off his desk. He slung his bag over his shoulder, grabbed his ID, and rushed for the door.

Skids grabbed his keys off his bed and tossed them to him. “Keys!”

Swerve almost dropped them, catching the keychain on one finger. “Thanks!” He bolted down the hall with the stuffed toy still under his arm. He barely made it in time, sliding into his usual seat at exactly five after.

He waved down the table at Brainstorm, who was solidly ignoring him, as he always did when Swerve slid into class late. When the teacher wasn’t paying attention to their corner of the room anymore, Swerve pulled out the heart assortment and slid it down the table to land in front of Brainstorm. It ran into his arm instead, but it made it there.

Brainstorm looked over at him and he grinned and waved. Brainstorm took the heart and wordlessly stuffed it into his bag before returning his full attention to the professor. He might have been a little pinker in the cheeks now, but it was hard to tell.

Swerve pulled out his notes and managed to pay attention for all of ten minutes before he got distracted by the mothman plush and started working on that instead. It was a cute toy. The patch, once he was finished with it, looked kind of like it could be part of the mottled blue and black texture. From a distance. If you squinted. Swerve was thinking about giving it to Rewind as a gift but now.... he was leaning much more toward keeping it. He liked it. It felt right. This was a toy that needed love. Swerve set it up like it was siting on the table to get a better look at his handiwork and gave the toy a smooch on top of its head.

“Ew.” Swerve looked up. Brainstorm had scooted over to the seat next to him and was holding out a worksheet in his direction. “Where’s that thing even been? It’s got shoe prints on it.”

Swerve shrugged and set the toy on the top of the books in his open backpack, so it could still see out of the bag. “Got it from the dollar store. I think he was living on the floor there for a while.”

“And you put your mouth on it?” Brainstorm asked incredulously.

“My mouth’s been in worse places.” Swerve gave him a goofy smile. “I ate a worm for a dollar in third grade.”

Brainstorm wrinkled his nose and shoved the worksheet into his hands. “ _Gross._ "

Swerve took the paper and grinned. “It was delicious.” He laughed when Brainstorm faked gagging sounds. “What’s this about? Another partner assignment?”

“Yeah.” Brainstorm pulled out a pen and turned his attention to the worksheet. “It’s just classwork though, so he’s got more than just the final to factor into our grades. You an copy my answers if you’re too busy making out with stuffed animals to do the work.”

“No, I can help.”

“You weren’t even paying attention!”

“I was listening. Peripherally.”

Brainstorm rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’m not letting you put any wrong answers though.”

Swerve laughed. “I _hope_ not!”

About halfway through the worksheet Brainstorm blurted out “What’s with the chocolate?”

“The valentine?” Swerve grinned. “D’you like it? I saw it and thought you’d get a kick out of it. Way more fun than a plain red heart.”

Brainstorm didn’t look up from his work. “Yeah, but why today?”

“Because I’m broke and all the Valentine’s Day candy went on sale this morning. It’s why I was late, I walked to the dollar store this morning before class.”

He shot Swerve an unreadable look and tucked a stray lock of hair behind his ear. “You were late because you were picking up valentines?”

“Yep.”

“Oh.” Brainstorm turned back to the half-filled paper and twiddled his pen for a few seconds. “I like it, just so you know. It’s funny. Way better than getting a Barbie one or something.”

“See, that’s what I thought too! I’m glad you like it.”

“You should be the one keeping it though, let’s be honest. Mr. Stuffed-animal doctor.” Swerve stuck his tongue out at Brainstorm and got a half-snorted giggle in response. “Should I be bringing you all my sick teddy bears from now on?”

“Do you _have_ any sick teddy bears?”

Brainstorm looked affronted at the suggestion, despite being the one to bring it up. “No!”

“Then I guess you can’t bring them to me for fixing. Oh well.” He let the last two words hang in the air, sing-song and silly, and Brainstorm rolled his eyes again, but he was still smiling.

“Let’s just get this done. I don’t want to be stuck here any longer than I have to be.”

They finished the worksheet, not the first in their class to turn it in but definitely not the last. Swerve waved goodbye to Brainstorm as the went their separate ways, the stuffed mothman once again tucked comfortable under one arm. Before Brainstorm turned away entirely, Swerve held it up and made it wave one small wing at him, getting a puff of laughter and another smile before Brainstorm turned the corner and vanished out of sight.

Swerve held up the toy up as he made his way to his next class, up in the air in front of him like it was flying backwards. “You need a name. Cyclops?” He frowned. “No, that’s not it. Mothy? Mothman? Is that too on the nose?” He snorted and bumped their faces together, his nose pressing into the soft plush in the blank space below its eyes. “You don’t have a nose.” He held it to his chest and looked across the campus as he walked. “How about.... Whirl.” He looked back at the toy in his arms and smiled. “Yeah. I like Whirl.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully there will be more of this Ever. I actually have ideas but Since When Does That Mean Shit. (More tags and better description will be added as People Show Up and Stuff Happens)


	2. Are Tornadoes Good Role Models

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set up your friends with stuffed animals 2k17.

Whirl came to all Swerve’s classes that day, despite him getting a smattering of weird looks for carrying around a beat up stuffed animal. Most people either didn’t notice or didn’t care enough to spare them a second glance. That was the beauty of college.

He gave Whirl a bath in the sink that night after he finished with as much of his homework as he could stand to get done. The little guy looked a lot less bedraggled when he wasn’t covered in dirt and shoe prints. The dark blue and black had a higher contrast without the grubbiness, darker on his wings and lighter on his body. His remaining embroidered eye was a brighter gold than he’d first realized, with a few actual metallic threads accenting the edges of the intense yellow circle. Swerve decided that Skids was wrong, Whirl _was_ cute.

It was.... weird. How attached he got to Whirl. He didn’t even think about picking him up before leaving his dorm, but after a few days it was somehow already a part of his routine. ID, wallet, keys, Whirl, some obnoxious banter with Skids thrown over his shoulder if they weren’t leaving to go somewhere together. Whirl came to class, to the dining hall, to the library… pretty much any time Swerve left his dorm, it was with a blue stuffed mothman tucked under his arm.

Whirl also came to movie night that Friday, tucked into Swerve’s backpack along with his toothbrush and nearly four pounds of candy. The purple, horned toy was the one he carried in his arms on the buss ride over to Rewind’s apartment complex. It wasn’t the same comforting shape as Whirl—familiar after only four days—but having the purple creature in hand meant that when Tailgate opened the door, Swerve could thrust it right into his face, making him squeak with surprise.

“Happy late Valentine’s Day!” he trilled, moving the toy’s stiff arms in a wave. He grinned at Tailgate’s shocked expression and pushed the stuffed animal into his arms. “Have a present.”

Tailgate’s expression broke into a huge smile and he skipped forward to hug Swerve, nearly knocking him over. “Swerve! You shouldn’t have! It’s so cute!”

Swerve laughed. “Oh, that’s not the end of it. I come bearing candy!”

“You better have!” Rewind’s voice floated out from inside the apartment. “Get in here and close the door! It’s freezing out there!”

Tailgate grabbed Swerve’s hand and tugged him through the door. Swerve closed the door behind them and let himself be pulled into the living room, where Rewind had a stack of old VHS tapes sitting on the floor between a couple of bean bag chairs and a pile of pillows and blankets clearly pilfered from all the bedrooms in the apartment. Tailgate dropped his hand and plopped down on the floor next to Rewind. “Look what Swerve got me!”

Rewind eyed the stuffed animal skeptically. “Aw, it’s cute.” He didn’t sound convinced. “What is it though?”

“It’s—” Tailgate stopped and frowned. He looked at the toy for a moment, considering. “I don’t know. Swerve, what is it?”

Swerve shrugged. He pulled Whirl out of his backpack and tucked him under his arm as he emptied the dollar store bag of treats into a pile on the floor next to their makeshift seating. “I dunno. I’m not sure it’s supposed to _be_ anything. The cashier said something about a randomized design…? I don’t think they knew any more than I do.” He held up Whirl for inspection. “This one looks like a mothman, but none of the others did. I think they’re just shapes with eyes.”

“Aw… he’s cute too!” Tailgate plopped onto the nest of pillows and snuggled in, reaching out to the pile of candy with one flailing hand. When it was too far away he pouted until Swerve rolled his eyes and pushed the pile closer. Tailgate beamed. “Thanks!”

“No problem, I’m stealing all the popcorn anyway.”

Tailgate hugged the purple monster, squishing it to his chest. “What’s yours named?"

Swerve wiggled Whirl’s wings in a little dance. “Whirl.”

“They should match. What about....” Tailgate held up the toy to the light, ignoring Rewind barely not snickering behind him. “Cyclonus.”

“Cyclonus?"

“Yeah! Like a whirl and a cyclone"

“I can’t believe you two are still collecting stuffed animals.” Rewind was still setting up the movie, a blow pop picked out from the cache of candy Swerve had delivered to him sticking out of the corner of his mouth. He was fighting to get Chromedome’s X-Box unplugged from the back of the TV so he could hook up the beat up VCR he’d bought off Craigslist.

“I’m sorry you’re allergic to fun, Rewind. It’s a real tragedy.” Swerve bapped his shoulder with one of Whirl’s wings. “Or are you just jealous that I didn’t get you one? There are more at the dollar store if you’re feeling left out…”

“I’m not jealous, I just think you’re ridiculous.”

“You love us anyway.”

“Clearly, or else I wouldn’t kick my boyfriend out of the apartment on a Friday night just to hang out with you.”

“CD could stick around if he wanted!”

“He _could,_ but he _won’t._ You know old movies aren’t his thing.” Rewind pushed Swerve back onto the beanbag chair behind him and laughed when he flailed, unable to get back out. “Come on, let’s get your tiny movie buddies up to speed.”

Swerve hugged Whirl to his chest, making sure his one eye had a clear view of the television. He waved one hand toward the pile of candy until Tailgate—the only one who could actually reach the pile now—picked up a mini chocolate bar and threw it to him, the piece of candy pinging off his visor and landing on Whirl’s fluffy head.

Tailgate tried not to giggle aloud and Rewind laughed outright. He shook his head at the two of them, twirling his blow pop between his fingers. “Who wants to make the popcorn?”

“You do!” Swerve grinned up at him. “Sorry, you’re the only one still standing, and beanbag chairs are impossible to get out of.”

Rewind rolled his eyes. “Tailgate?”

“Oh no, the blankets are eating me…!” Tailgate’s voice got more muffled under blankets as he buried himself further into his claimed nest. Swerve snickered. “Sorry, Rewind! Go on without me!”

“You guys are ridiculous.” He dropped the TV and VHS remote controls into Swerve’s lap and headed for the kitchen. Don’t start the movie without me!”

Swerve tucked the remotes into one of the creases in the beanbag chair and rescued the mini chocolate bar from Whirl’s head. He unwrapped it and popped it in his mouth, tossing the wrapper toward Tailgate’s blanket nest. It drifted down to rest delicately at the edge of the pile. “Hey, which movie do you think we’re starting with, The Swan Princess, or one of the Land Before Time movies?”

“Neither!” A tiny face poked up from between the pillows. Red eyes and a jagged frown glowered at him and stumpy arms waved at Swerve, manipulated by Tailgate's barely visible hands. “I’m too serious for children’s movies!” He declared in a comically pitched voice, his high, sweet tones imitating a growl. One of Cyclonus’ tiny arms patted at his chest. “My only interests are honor and combat.”

Swerve laughed and propped up Whirl on his knee to face Cyclonus. “What are ya, allergic to fun? Can’t handle the drama?” He made Whirl do a little dance. “‘I’m Cyclonus an’ I ain’t afraid’a nothin’ but kids flicks’.”

Tailgate’s giggle floated out from under the pile of blankets before he could stifle it. The false gruffness in his voice faltered, but he valiantly kept up the game. “You have no—” a snicker “no honor, and I could easily defeat you in b-battle!” Tailgate lost it at the last word, collapsing into laughter. He kicked his feet under the blankets and struggled out of the pile, tucking Cyclonus to his chest and grinning. “I seriously love him, Swerve, this is amazing.”

“Good!” Swerve pet Whirl’s head and played with the tiny nubs on top of his not-head that might have been feathers or ears, it was impossible to tell. “Cyclonus an’ Whirl are gonna hafta get along though, since we’re friends. They can’t be enemies unless you’re gonna stage combat with them. Which I will totally help you with, if that’s the plan.”

“No, I don’t think they’re _enemies_ , more like… rivals.” Tailgate looked over at him. “Like the guys at the start of—shoot, what was it? The movie with the toys.”

“....Toy Story?”

“Yeah!”

Swerve failed to stifle a laugh and let out an awkward snorting noise instead. “I can’t believe you.”

Tailgate pouted, but it was clearly purposely exaggerated. “Hey, not everyone got to watch movies growing up!”

“I know, I know! I’m not laughing _at_ you, it’s cute! I like getting to be there when you see all the classics for the first time.” He made Whirl flap his wings. “And you’re already ahead of Whirl and Cyclonus on playing catchup.”

“Who’s ready for an off-brand musical!” From the kitchen, Rewind waltzed back in carrying a huge bowl of popcorn. He laughed when Swerve reached up and made grabby hands at the bowl from his seat. “What, you think this is for you? Maybe it’s all for me.”

“I brought chocolate!” Swerve said indignantly.

“Mm… fair enough.” Rewind set the bowl on the floor within reach from Swerve’s beanbag perch and flopped into his own. From there he could get at both the chocolate pile and the popcorn bowl without moving. “Are you guys and your tiny friends ready to get this party started?”

“Yep!” Tailgate adjusted how Cyclonus was tucked against his chest so he was facing the screen.

Swerve did the same, perching Whirl on his lap. “Ready to roll.”

Rewind shook his head, smiling. “Hand me the remotes. We’re doing The Swan Princess first.”


End file.
